John Ashton, the actor best known for starring as Sergeant John Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, is dead at 76. He died from cancer, his manager confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1948, Ashton graduated from USC with a Bachelor of Arts in theater. His first onscreen credit (billed as John D. Ashton) was in the now largely forgotten 1973 horror film The Psychopath. It was his first time playing a sergeant, thus setting a template for future roles in law enforcement. In the following years, he played officers in a multitude of TV and film projects — including another sergeant on Police Story, a border-patrol agent in Borderline, and the lead in the short-lived 1989 NBC buddy-cop series Hardball.
Ashton first appeared in his best-known role in 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop. He played Sergeant John Taggart, a gruff officer who initially doesn’t get along with Eddie Murphy’s Detective Axel Foley, though their relationship eventually blossoms. Taggart became an important part of the franchise — appearing in the 1987 sequel Beverly Hills Cop II and the 2024 reboot Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Taggart’s last onscreen performance. “Going back to this one was like a family reunion,†Ashton told The Nerds of Color in 2024. “We just fell right back into it.â€